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Eating out in Glasgow with more than one food allergy

Published 26 October 2026

Eating out in Glasgow with more than one food allergy means naming every food. Food Standards Scotland tells you to be very clear and to give examples of the foods that make you ill, before you go and again when you arrive. If you are a parent, use the child’s allergy action plan. The NHS says a specialist gives you that plan, and that you tell restaurant staff. This page does not replace the plan or the NHS.

Food Standards Scotland is the public sector food body for Scotland. The Food Standards Agency is responsible for food safety and food hygiene in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and describes Food Standards Scotland as the equivalent body for Scotland. See Glasgow, Edinburgh, and how to tell a restaurant about your food allergy.

Name every food, every time

Check the menu and call ahead. Ask if they can offer something suitable, or prepare something. They must provide allergen information. They do not have to make a separate meal. If they do not understand, ask for a manager. Ask about cross-contact from cooking equipment or ingredients, and about a last-minute recipe change or substitution. Take extra care with a complicated dish. Those steps are on the Food Standards Scotland eating-out page.

On arrival, say it again to the server or the manager. Name each food and give an example. “No dairy and no nuts” leaves the kitchen to guess. Say milk, including yoghurt, butter or ghee. Say peanut, the tree nut you mean, sesame, egg or cereals containing gluten as separate words. Remind them about glazes, sauces and cooking oils. If you doubt they understand, do not eat there.

The 14, and foods the list misses

Food Standards Scotland says you can be allergic to any food, and that a business must tell you if it uses any of 14 key allergens. The legal list is Annex II of assimilated Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, the named tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre, lupin, and molluscs. The 14 allergens UK restaurants must declare walks through that list. Food Standards Scotland says people may have allergies to other foods not on it.

A food outside that list is not one the business must declare, so you name it. The board paper of 11 December 2024 says an allergy outside the 14 puts the weight on you to raise it with staff. Its example is lentils. The NHS groups peanuts, soybeans, peas and chickpeas among foods more likely to cause a reaction. Pea and chickpea are not in Annex II, so say them if they are on the plan. Food Standards Scotland says some gluten-free products use pea flour or gram flour from chickpeas, and that an allergy to peanuts, peas, chickpeas or lentils means knowing lupin is also a legume. Your allergy team decides if that applies to you.

Ask to see it in writing

For food that is not prepacked, and not prepacked for direct sale, regulation 5 lets the business choose how to give the Annex II particulars, including orally. If it is spoken, they must signpost that you can ask a member of staff, on a label or on a notice, menu, ticket or label where you choose the food. Food Standards Scotland says it may be on a menu, a chalkboard, a shelf label, or spoken.

Ask to read the writing. The board paper describes that written or spoken rule, and mentions an allergen matrix at the point of sale as one written form. Regulation 5 does not require that chart. If the venue has one, check every food you named. Then still talk. The paper says writing can miss a last-minute change, a substitution or cross-contact. A residual risk remains even then. If the menu has changed since you called, ask again.

Fryers, pans and oil

Ask what else uses the same fryer, pan or oil. Food Standards Scotland tells you to ask about cross-contact from cooking equipment, ingredients, glazes, sauces and cooking oils. Its allergen guidance says cooking at a high temperature does not remove a food allergen, unlike bacteria. If nobody can say what shared the equipment, do not eat the food.

Takeaway and delivery

A takeaway must give you allergy information when you order and when the food is delivered. Check the menu, the website or the phone. If several people are eating, ask them to label the container made for the allergy. Name every food, and do not eat it if you are left in doubt. That is the Food Standards Scotland advice. More is in ordering a takeaway with a food allergy.

Food packed before you choose it

Food packed on the premises before you choose it is prepacked for direct sale, not a plate cooked after you order. Since 1 October 2021, Food Standards Scotland says businesses in Scotland and the rest of the UK must label that food with the name and a full ingredients list, with any of the 14 emphasised. Examples include a packed sandwich, wrapped deli goods and a boxed salad. The full list can also show an ingredient that is not one of the 14.

That duty is regulation 5A, in force on 1 October 2021. The particulars go on the pack or a label attached to it, and do not apply to a distance sale. The board paper says the review followed the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, and that the full list helps people allergic to a food outside the 14. What Natasha’s Law does not change for a cooked-to-order meal is in Natasha’s Law and PPDS labelling. Food Standards Scotland says local authorities enforce it.

A Pass result is about hygiene

Scotland does not use a hygiene score from 0 to 5. The Food Hygiene Information Scheme uses Pass, Improvement Required or Exempt Premises. Pass means the business meets the legal requirements for food hygiene. Improvement Required means it did not. Exempt Premises met that standard and are low risk. A new business may show Awaiting Inspection. It is not the allergen information you ask for, and it does not mean a dish suits your plan. Food hygiene ratings and food allergies sets the 0 to 5 scheme beside this result.

Who you contact in Glasgow

A question about allergen information can go to Food Standards Scotland. A concern about a specific business goes to the local authority. In Glasgow, report a food law problem on 0141 287 1059 via the council food law inspections page. They inspect under the Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and the Food Law Rating System, including after a complaint. The food labelling page uses the same number and says one of the 14 allergens has to be highlighted on the label. The same council takes a complaint about the hygiene result.

If someone reacts

If you think someone is having anaphylaxis, follow the NHS and that person’s allergy action plan. Anaphylaxis is life-threatening and happens very quickly. Use an adrenaline auto-injector if they have one, even if the symptoms are mild, then call 999 and say you think it is an anaphylactic reaction. Lie down and do not stand or walk, even if they feel better. If symptoms have not improved after 5 minutes, use a second injector. The NHS food allergy page says to use a prescribed injector or nasal spray straight away, then call 999 even if the person seems better. Restaurant steps are in what to do in an allergic reaction. If this page and the NHS differ, follow the NHS and the plan.

Where this sits on SafePlate

You can search for restaurants for a food allergy, then read Glasgow and Edinburgh, or search on the SafePlate homepage. Searching SafePlate is free. Unknown means no menu or visitor note mentions that food. You still ask. A listing is not a decision that a kitchen can cook for your list.

The usable allergy chef card, in 38 languages, is part of SafePlate Plus. Plus fills it from your profile. The allergy chef card page is a preview unless you have Plus. You cannot fill that sample in, hand it over as yours, or print it. Put each food on its own line. SafePlate Plus explains the card.

Set up your foods before you search. This is not medical advice. Confirm the meal with the kitchen. In the UK, if you think someone is having anaphylaxis, call 999.